Chemical-biological protective suits are worn when the surrounding environment may present a potential hazard of exposing an individual to potentially harmful or fatal chemical or biological agents. Exposure to such agents may be the result of accidental release in a scientific or medical laboratory, or in a hospital; intentional release by a government to attack the military forces of the opposition; and/or release during peacetime by criminal or terrorist organizations with the purpose of creating mayhem, fear and widespread destruction. The protective suits further can be useful for protecting personnel treating others during a viral or biological epidemic. For these reasons, the development of reliable, adequate protection against biological and chemical agents is desirable.
Historically, the materials used for chemical-biological protective suits are unbreathable. As a result, the use of these materials retards the ability of the human body to dissipate heat through perspiration, resulting in the development of heat stress burden on the wearer. For example, currently commercially available materials generally produce a heat stress burden on the person wearing the suit.
Furthermore, current commercially available chemical and biological protective suits also lack a mechanism to detoxify chemical and biological agents. These types of suits possess adsorptive chemical protective systems that act by adsorbing hazardous liquids and vapors into adsorbents thus passively inhibiting the hazardous materials from reaching the individual wearing the suit. However, these adsorbents are limited by a finite ability to adsorb chemicals. Furthermore, adsorbents indiscriminately adsorb chemical species for which protection is unnecessary, thereby reducing the available capacity for adsorption of the chemicals to which they were intended to provide protection.
The anti-microbial properties of UV-C light (Ultraviolet light—C band) are well-known to scientists and have been used since the 1930's to kill germs containing DNA and RNA (including bacteria, viruses, fungi and mold). UV-C light is invisible to the human eye. While UV-C light is invisible, given sufficient intensity and exposure, UV-C light can kill most of the germs responsible for causing disease in humans and animals. UV-C light can destroy the DNA and/or RNA (genetic material) of pathogens (disease-causing bacteria, viruses, mold, etc.). Once the DNA in a pathogen has been destroyed, the pathogen is either killed or deactivated; the pathogen can no longer function properly; and the pathogen can no longer reproduce.
In general, ultraviolet (UV) light is classified into three wavelength ranges: UV-C, from about 200 nanometers (nm) to about 280 nm; UV-B, from about 280 nm to about 315 nm; and UV-A, from about 315 nm to about 400 nm. Generally, ultraviolet light, and in particular, UV-C light is “germicidal,” i.e., it deactivates the DNA of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens and thus destroys their ability to multiply and cause disease. This effectively results in sterilization of the microorganisms. Specifically, UV-C light causes damage to the nucleic acid of microorganisms by forming covalent bonds between certain adjacent bases in the DNA. The formation of these bonds prevents the DNA from being “unzipped” for replication, and the organism is neither able to produce molecules essential for life process, nor is it able to reproduce. In fact, when an organism is unable to produce these essential molecules or is unable to replicate, it dies. UV light with a wavelength of approximately between about 250 to about 280 nm provides the highest germicidal effectiveness. While susceptibility to UV light varies, exposure to UV energy for about 20 to about 34 milliwatt-seconds/cm2 is adequate to deactivate approximately 99 percent of the pathogens.
Various approaches have sought to use ultraviolet light to disinfect a compartment, such as compartments found in refrigerators. For example, one approach proposes a plurality of small, low current UV lights which utilize the standard circuitry of the refrigerator to power the UV light source. Another approach uses a UV lamp installed in a top portion of the refrigerator and reflective lining throughout the interior to reflect the UV radiation throughout the compartment. Another approach provides a UV system with a single UV source attached to an internal sidewall of a refrigerator to radiate light to the entire compartment, or in the alternative, provide UV exposure to a limited compartment. Still another approach proposes an air cleaner for an internal compartment of a refrigerator, which utilizes a UV filter to reduce pathogens in the re-circulated air. Still another approach provides a refrigerator with UV light irradiation components to eradicate low-level light from the storage containers contained therein to promote freshness of foodstuffs.
Box-type UV sterilizers are well known for use in sterilizing all manner of objects, including contact lenses, combs and safety goggles. Often only a single source of radiation is employed in these sterilizers and, as such, there are often areas on an object to be sterilized that are shadowed from the UV radiation produced from the single source. Furthermore, the object to be sterilized is often required to rest on a support during the sterilization process. When the support is not transparent to the UV radiation, the support also contributes to shadowing the object to be sterilized from the UV radiation.
Various approaches have been used in decontaminating surfaces through the use of ultraviolet light. One approach includes a mobile germicidal system for decontaminating walls and a ceiling of a room, in which germicidal lamps are positioned adjacent the wall and/or ceiling to thereby sterilize the surface. Another approach proposes an ultraviolet air sterilization device for connection to an air handling duct for the purpose of sterilizing the air as it flows through the duct. Still another approach describes a wheeled carriage with a handle to allow the operator to move the sterilization device over a floor. Other approaches seek to provide a handheld device for moving across a surface to eradicate undesirable elements thereon, a mobile disinfectant device and method using ultraviolet light to sterilize a surface; and a UV spot curing system for hardening epoxy material using a wand emitting ultraviolet light.